Warehouse Equipment: The Key to Running an Efficient Back of House Operation

There are many tasks and challenges involved in the day-to-day operations of warehouses, including maintaining accurate inventory levels, ensuring timely order fulfilment, and keeping operational costs under control. That said, running a warehouse can be simple or complex, it all depends on whether your facilities are equipped for the job.

Imagine if wardrobes and dressers didn’t exist and THE chair was a permanent storage solution for your clothes and accessories. Just piles and piles of garments draped over its backrest, making it impossible for you to find what you want to wear without creating an even bigger mess. 

Now picture a large building with huge amounts of goods just sitting around with no rack or shelf in sight. Then, a customer gets in touch with an oddly specific order for one of your items. You know you have it in stock, but you can’t find it for the life of you, resulting in precious time and effort wasted, and likely a customer lost.

How Can Warehouse Equipment Help? 

Think of it as the skeleton of your warehouse that shapes your operation and puts things in motion. And much like the human skeleton, it protects the vitals, which in this case are your employees. Or in other words, storage handling equipment can help you improve your organization and inventory management, enhance the efficiency and productivity of your staff and increase workplace safety. 

However, to reap these benefits, it’s vital that you shop for warehouse equipment built with the highest quality and safety standards. And as the saying goes, it’s also important to have the right tools for the job. There are many solutions available on the market and knowing your stuff is key to making an informed decision. 

What Type of Equipment Is Used in Warehouses? 

From the initial use of forklifts and hand pallet jacks to automated material handling equipment—things have evolved greatly over the last decade, resulting in a vast selection of innovative products and systems. 

Material Handling and Lifting Equipment 

Forklifts, pallet jacks and trolleys allow you to move and transport goods within the warehouse, as well as load and unload pallets from trucks. They make the handling of heavy loads significantly easier for employees, while also increasing the speed at which the goods come in and out of your premises. Taking out a big portion of the manual lifting involved ultimately creates a safer work environment. 

Storage Equipment

The main purpose of storage solutions is to help you structure your warehouse. These sturdy and durable shelving and racking systems are designed to hold items of various sizes and weights in an organized manner, allowing for easy access and retrieval of goods, which in turn further increases efficiency and productivity. 

Conveyors and Sortation Systems

As the name implies, conveyors and sortation systems allow you to move and sort items with great speed and accuracy. The former transport goods from point A to point B, whereas the latter automatically direct items to the correct location. This can help you stay on top of order fulfilment, which eventually leads to improved customer satisfaction. 

Tips on Choosing the Right Equipment for Your Needs

When choosing material handling tools and storage systems, there are several things to consider to ensure that the equipment is well-suited to your needs.

Products

The type, volume and weight of goods will usually determine the equipment required because you can’t store and handle food in the same way as you would furniture, car parts or plumbing supplies. Think carefully about what you need to store, how many times it will be moved and how much of it needs to be stored.

Space

You should also consider the space available in your warehouse i.e make sure that the equipment fits right into your premises without disrupting the flow of goods or the movement of employees. What type of design do you want? Is it a stationary or mobile system? How do you plan to access the goods?

Cost

The cost plays an important role in the decision-making process. But apart from the purchase price, you should also consider installation, maintenance, and repair costs before you buy to avoid any unexpected expenses in the future. Of course, we all want to save money and get the best value for our investments, but we need to consider the overall cost to make sure we don’t end up with equipment that is not suitable or too expensive.

Safety

Last but not least, you must select a solution that complies with the safety regulations in your industry. Other than buying from trusted warehouse equipment suppliers, you should also consider the availability of technical support and training. 

If you and your employees don’t receive proper training on how to use the equipment safely, you’ll be putting yourselves at risk of serious injuries. On that note, it’s also wise to look for equipment that has built-in safety features such as emergency stop buttons, automatic shut-off, or similar devices.

Closing Thoughts 

If you’re looking to improve your back-of-house operations, investing in quality equipment is one of the surefire ways to do so. Even though it can be a costly investment, the benefits outweigh the initial cost in the long run, helping you create a safer, more productive and more efficient work environment. With that being said, you can now take a closer look at your existing setup and see whether there are any upgrades to be made.